Blog Challenge: #30DaysofMe

This #30daysofme blog challenge seems to have become pretty popular on Twitter and I have been convinced by @blauerpunto, @ilaeria @agentK and @jethrocarr to do it too. Considering I've been incommunicado on my blog for quite some time now, I figured it was worth a shot.

Anyway, so this is an outline of what you can expect on the blog for the next 30 days

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 03- A picture of you and your friends
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- Favorite super hero and why
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12- How you found out about Blogger and why you made one
Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Your favorite song

The challenge starts today so I'm following this up with Day 1's post very soon

challenge has been postponed

So just when I was getting into the swing of things & announced the 30 posts in 30 days challenge to the world, I was deprived of a computer :P So just in case you were wondering, that's why I couldn't live up to my word.

I will try again in August but for now, hopefully I'll still keep writing...lots :)

I haven't finished reading Superfreakonomics yet so don't ask me for a review. I just put it on hold as I'm re-reading The Fountainhead. It's one of those books that I read over and over again and different bits inspire me at different times in my life. Howard Roark speaks to me as I've mentioned before and once again, I'm discovering new things about the book and about the way I look at things.

sand between my fingers

This was inspired by my friend Jen D who recently wrote a Pantoum as well. I don't write poetry much but just thought I'd give it a shot anyway. Not the greatest...but oh well, at least I wrote a poem. ;)

you & me

what we had

and what could have been

questions...

what we had

was it just me?

questions

for the answers that will never be heard

was it just me?

the reminiscences surround me

for, the answers that will never be heard

are haunting

the reminiscences surround me

but were you ever here?

are haunting

memories worth holding on to?

but were you ever here?

i don't see you any more

memories worth holding on to,

slipping like sand beween my fingers

i don't see you anymore

the questions are pointless

slipping like sand between my fingers

you & me

Day 5: Stress

I really thought I would write something good today. An actual post, not just some words for the sake of a post.

But I'm very, very stressed right now. Don't really want to say why so I'll just say Hello All and now I'm going back to watching Good News Week.

Oh, and cheer for Netherlands tomorrow. Do.

Day 4: I have nothing to say

Really. I don't.
I've had a very long day and I'm only posting because I promised I would.
Plus I'm watching Rafa & Berdych fight it out at the Wimbledon finals. I don't want Berdych to win because he beat Federer. Haha, yes I can be like that.

I also hope Spain beats Germany at the semis because I really, really don't like the Germans (the team, not the people) and was so heartbroken last night. Yes, I know Germany played very well and deserved to win yada yada, but I really don't like the team Ha ha.

Okay, so good night all. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more interesting things to write about.

Day 3: Football - it's in my genes

It's almost time for the Argentina-Germany game so let me hear you say it

A.R.G.E.N.T.I.N.A!!!!

I love the World Cup. I don't follow football as much as my sister and don't know too many players or anything but I love watching it during the World Cup. It's one of the few sports I find interesting (and understand!), plus I think it's also a cultural-genetic-hereditary thing. I'll explain in a bit, but first -

- yes, it *is* football. When you kick a ball with your foot, it's called football. It's not football when you run around a field passing the ball to each other, tackling each other to the ground. Yes, I'm looking at you Aussie rules "football" fans and yes, you American "football" fans too. But back to what I was saying....

Calcutta, the city I grew up in has 2 major football clubs - Mohun Bagan and East Bengal and when they play, the fans can get pretty aggressive.  We also love to claim Baichung Bhutia as our own. Anyway, so for this reason, Bengalis (or Bongs, as we are "fondly" known) are pretty passionate about football. What we're also passionate about is Brazil and Argentina. Football is big in West Bengal (the state in which Calcutta is, for the uninitiated) and if India *ever* qualified for the World Cup, I'm willing to bet anything that the most passionate supporters will be from Bengal. Anyway, so every World Cup the city is divided into its Blue and Yellow factions and well, things can get pretty heated.

I'm not sure exactly when this Brazil-Argentina obsession started but it's pretty strong and I can tell you I was being very un-Calcuttan & un-Bengali by supporting Netherlands last night. Haha ;) So I Googled to see if I could find any answers & I found this (read it!). There were clashes in Bangladesh between Argentine & Brazilian football fans. FYI, Bangladesh & West Bengal share the same language, culture, food etc, back from when we used to be the same country...so there's a shared passion for football as well.

The article says the Bengali obsession for Argentina & Brazil has to do with Pele & Maradona but doesn't explain much else. But anyway, it does explain my point - football, is my genes (watching it, not playing it).

India may have a long way to go till they qualify for the World Cup (if you're interested, this article I read on the BBC website explains a few things about the dismal state of Indian football). In the meanwhile, as the article says "Bengalis are passionate people" and I'm going to cheer loud and hard tonight so let me hear it one more time:

A.R.G.E.N.T.I.N.A!!!!

Day 2: Cheat post ;)

Okay so this is a bit of a cheat post but today has been a very, very long day and it's the Netherlands vs. Brazil quarterfinals so I don't really have the time to frame coherent sentences right now. It's a cheat post because I'm posting something I wrote when I was 17 and some of you have read it before I'm sure.

It's my attempt at poetry...(I really struggle with poetry btw). I wrote it while I was meant to be studying, the night before an English exam. Though I know it's no fantastic piece of poetry, it's still one of my favourites! :-)

I want to sit and read on top of a tree

I want to run like an animal who’s just been set free

I want to learn how to cook a French meal

I want to learn how to train a seal

I want to listen to Mozart and Pink Floyd at the same time

I want to write a good poem without a rhyme

I want to jump off a building to see if I can fly

I want to laugh so hard I begin to cry

I want to read every book ever written

I want to understand the working of the minds of men

I want to never have to apologise

I want to know the true meaning of ‘wise’

I want to write like William Shakespeare – The Bard

I want to write the invitation on my own funeral card

I want to learn to drive a bulldozing machine

I want to never step out of my teens

I want to be interviewed by a famous journalist

I want to be able to tell my life story in a gist

I want to adopt a dog, a monkey, a lion cub

I want to remember an itching nose becomes worse when you rub

I want to love like I’ve never loved before

I want to keep loving more and more

I want to travel to the north and south poles

I want to believe in the existence of souls

I want to travel abroad without a passport

I want to be old enough to vote

I want to be able to laugh at myself

I want to know what Enid Blyton meant by ‘elf’

I want to scuba dive from Kanyakumari

I want to know what its like to break your knee

I want to be brave enough to say I don’t know

I want to know what its like to be a crow

I want...

I want... 

I want, more and more

But most of all…

I want to be me.

LIFE, question mark

Sometimes I tend to abandon this blog because it gets too personal. It orders me around and demands I reveal more of myself than I'm comfortable with. I don't like being told what to do so I do what I do what I do - I run away. Sometimes we run into each other on the interwebz but I can be cold-hearted. Blog looks at me with the fond smile of an old friend & I just ignore it, pretending we've never met. But then, on days like today I come back, arrogant in my certainty that Blog has no choice but to take me back. I have things to say and Blog always wants to listen and thus begins another "On" chapter of our tumultous, sometimes toxic, sometimes comforting on again/off again relationship.

Also, on the spur of the moment, I have decided to challenge myself to the 30 posts in 30 days thing that a lot of bloggers do. (well 31, as it is July). Starting today, I'm going to post here (however big or small) every day until the 31st of July. Forcing myself into being a writer by leisure, not just by profession so I can remember why I used to love it so much.

So anyway, yesterday my dear friend S wrote a note on Facebook "When I grow older..", which is now on her blog. Please read it and then come back and tell me she's an amazing writer. She's smart, she decided not to make a career out of writing. That's where things start going downhill. But I digress. S's post is a series of questions and realisations about the crisis of growing up. (Yes, it is a crisis, an unfortunate unavoidable one at that.) She inspired me to write this so at the end of it, if you think reading it was the biggest waste of your time, feel free to blame S. haha. :)

I'm curious by nature and I ask people (or Google, as the case may be) a lot of questions but this time around, I've been asking myself a lot of questions. Ever wish you had an internal Google that would just give you all the answers? Do you think if it were possible to measure the speed of thought, we would measure distances in space in "thought years"? (seeee - so many questions and I haven't even started the "actual" post.)

Do you ever reach a point in your life where you look at all your dreams, goals,achievements, ambitions and even materialistic pursuits - and wonder - "Why do I want this?"

The things you thought you wanted from life - do you really want them or have you just been conditioned into wanting them? By people? By society? By advertisements? ;)

Can anyone ever really be beyond cultural influence? So why do you think you are so special?

For all your independence and pride, did you really make all your decisions "independently" or have you surreptitiously been conned into them?

If I asked you "Who are you?", could you really tell me? Not your name, not your job, not your skills, not your hobbies, not your relationships - but who YOU are?

Can you evolve overnight and become a different version of yourself or are you just trying on a new skin for shock value?

Is it normal to regress to your teenage years as a form of liberation from your adulthood? Can you be living your life in reverse?

Do you feel passionate and blase about the same things in alternating bursts of dizzying euphoria and mindnumbing dullness?

Can home bring you comfort while also frighten you into depression? Can home be home without the people? Can you be home and still be a nomad?

When you don't cry - is it because you are really happy or are you too scared to feel...anything. If the happiness is bittersweet, is it really happiness?

If you are asked "What did you want to be as a child?" and you cannot remember, is it because it was that trivial or have you lost a part of yourself?

Do you find yourself wishing you had some psycho babble analysis to blame things on but you can't because you had such a perfectly normal and happy childhood?

When you meet someone new who knows nothing about you or where you come from, can it be a relief to hide behind the lack of identity? Or is it simply a chance to create an identity without pre-conceived notions?

Remember when your naivete and innocence was lovable? When did it become laughable?

"Good things happen to good people" they say and you believed it because you are an optimist. But are you sure? Are you really, really sure? No, really?

Can you be a cynical optimist? Why not? It's like believing Evolution was followed by Creation. Or being Agnostic. No?

Is faith (in anything) good or are you just kidding yourself? But you're a daydreamer - do you really want to let go of that just yet?

Are you being impulsive and "listening to your gut" or is it just the devil-may-care attitude frothing up to the surface?

Why is it when men are nice, you think "he's a nice guy" but when a girl is nice, she's flirting?

If being nice was cool, would more people be nicer or is bitchy always going to be in?

If you put yourself before anyone else, is it okay not to feel guilty about it?

Do we put too much pressure on ourselves to be perfect?

Do you feel like you're constantly falling short of expectations that no one has of you but yourself?Once you start falling short, do you stop trying or do you just go harder? Are you running around in circles then or is it a marathon with an eventual finish line? Do you stop if you run out of breath?

When your heart tells you you want to do something that will "make a difference", why does your mind shut it up with "wise" words spouting "impracticality" "no future" "what will you do for money?" and even "rubbish, what difference could you possibly make"? Is this part of societal conditioning or are you too afraid to take the leap? Will you do it anyway?

Can we really have it all? What is this "all" you speak of?

P.S. Don't ask me "What brought this on?" or anything to that effect. They're just questions...at some point you've probably asked yourself some of these too.

An Ode

Mornings are so much better because I know I have you.
A day that doesn't start off with you always ends up going really badly.
Sometimes I don't have the time for you first thing in the morning but then as the day goes on, just the thought of you makes me smile.
As the day draws to a close, once again you cheer me up and bring me back to life.

People often ask me why I love you so much but I'm sure other lovers will agree, it's not something that can be easily explained. I was first introduced to you when I was sooo young and our relationship has evolved so much over the years... and I know deep down that our bond is only going to get stronger over the years. There is no other way. The thought of you, your smell and simply even looking at you always gives me a high like no other. And after all these years, I can confidently say its not infatuation.. what I feel for you is a pure 100% love.. bordering even on obsession and addiction.

I love you Coffee... what would I ever do without you. ;-)

Three years ago

... on the 27th of February I arrived in Australia. As cliche as it sounds.. wow, I have grown up so much in these last three years and for various reasons:

1. I have never lived away from home before my move to Australia.
2. I have never had a real job until I moved to Australia.
3. V and I started living together 3 years ago and only now do I know how much that has helped our relationship grow.
4. For the first time in my life, I had to worry about responsibilities such as bills, groceries, cooking for myself, cleaning up the house etc.
5. I've met hundreds of new people from different walks of life, different cultures, different backgrounds and meeting these people in itself has been an experience.
6.V & I bought our first car AND had our first serious accident.
7. I have learned that being assertive is not a bad thing and even though it takes me a while to mentally prepare myself.. I am much better than what I used to be.
8. I am no longer afraid to voice my opinion
9. I now drink wine. ;-)
10. I'm 25 now.. that's a hell of a lot older than 22 ;)

There are probably many more reasons but these are the only ones that come to mind. I miss India for the fact that it is home, it's where I grew up... for the familiarity. But I love Australia and I'm so glad we moved here... this is home to me now.

wedding season anyone?

So yesterday I went to my first ever "Hen's Night". Funnily enough, I organised the whole thing even though I've never been to one before! My friend J is getting married on the 6th of March. She moved to Australia to be with her boyfriend (now, almost husband) and so, like me, has no family here. So when she invited me to her wedding, I knew I had to organise a Hen's Night for her. So yes, we did have a very good night.


Anyway, so J's is the first of many weddings that I know is going to happen this year. Thanks to Facebook, in the last few months, I have literally watched my friends go from "in a relationship" to "engaged" and some have already evolved to the "married" status as well. The arranged marriages of course did not even have the "in a relationship" status! Most of these are my friends from school and uni in India, so they are people I have known for many years and most importantly, they are girls my age! No, I am not headed where you think I am! Watching the constant coupling around me is not "inspiring" me into "Settling down". Yes, I get asked "when are you settling down?" to which I now reply, "Why? Am I out of control right now?".

So lots of marriages this year. Lots of weddings I will be missing (that is the part that makes me sad!) but no, I am not getting married. Not yet. I want to get married and we will... V & I have a plan of action and need to work at our plans one step at a time so marriage will happen once the steps before it have been completed. What's funny is, V & I are one of those couples who have been together since school so everyone assumed we would be the first to get married. (I have never quite understood the logic behind that assumption!), but at the rate my friends are going.. it looks like we will be one of the last! ;)

I'm wondering... this sudden urgency to get married.. does it have anything to do with that quarter life crisis I was talking about? Most of these girls are turning 25 this year or did in 2009 so does this milestone suddenly make them believe they should be married? I am not being mean.. I am very happy for all my friends who are getting married. I'm just trying to figure out why, all of a sudden at least 20 of my friends (at the very least and I am NOT exaggerating!) are getting married this year! Weddings are in this year so by the time I actually get married, it will be "so last season" ;) Haha!

I've been away...

... a while for various reasons and while at work today, I realised that to help me get over some of my issues, I need to start blogging again. It has, in the past, been very cathartic so here we go again...

Uni is over. O-V-E-R. I am very well aware of the finality of it but as with all my reactions to change, I don't think it has really hit me yet. It's still February and Semester 1 doesn't usually start until early March so I could very well still be on uni holidays. Yes, I am working full time now but I do that every time i have uni holidays so no real difference...yet.

I did realise though that 2010 will be the first year (since pre school) that I will not be studying. That's a pretty big deal to me. I don't enjoy exams etc but yes I definitely do enjoy studying and learning. Maybe by end 2010 I will have started learning a language so then maybe 2010 will not really end up being a non-studying year. Ha ha! :)

In other news, I turned 25 last week.
TWENTY FIVE.
Wow, when I was 18, 25 seemed so very old. Many of my friends have asked me if I'm having a "quarter life crisis" but I'm actually ok. I've never had any "...by 25" goals so crisis has been averted (I hope!). I do however have "...by 30" goals so if by 30 I haven't achieved the things I set out do and my plan hasn't fallen into place I might have a crisi then. Might.

That apart, it's just been work and not much more. Life is routine but life is good. :)

The Report Card Psyche

My mum is one of the smartest people I know. No, I’m not just saying it. She really is. She went to one of the best medical schools in India and is an amazing doctor. All through school and uni, she had the best grades possible. She started learning Spanish for fun a few years ago and did really well in her class and went on to the Advanced level. She knows so much about so many different things (mainly because she’s a voracious reader).

The reason I bring this up is because my parents recently moved to the UAE and mum can’t practice there until she passes these mandatory exams. She took one shot at them last month but she failed and ever since she has been down in the dumps. She keeps telling me she feels stupid because she couldn’t pass the exams. I tried telling her that it’s not so easy… yes of course she has been a doctor for over 20 years now but studying for exams is a completely different ball game. She said she felt like she was giving her med school exams again and I’m more than sure that wasn’t easy the first time around.

Anyway, what struck me is the dip in my mum’s self confidence. She’s a very confident and positive person so this surprised me even more. I realised then that no matter how old you are, academic success will to some extent always be tied with self worth. 

Considering how competitive the Indian education system and the employment scene is, I’m sure this psyche is stronger for Indians than others. Nonetheless, I’m sure every kid who goes to school in any part of the world is told they better get good grades or they’re not going to “make it”. History has shown us that people without good report cards have in fact “made it” but since this is usually the exception to the rule, academic excellence is still regarded as the only way to have a happy and successful career/life. As a result, failure to do well academically, depresses the average person because we feel like we’re no good and our life and other non-academic dreams aren’t worth anything. 

Good grades are important to me too but I have been lucky enough to be brought up by rational parents who didn’t threaten to feed my dinner to the dog if I didn’t get an A in chemistry. No I never got an A in chemistry, and although I would feel bummed every time I saw my chemistry grades, I moved on. What worries me is that some kids have their entire being wrapped up in the grades they get (or don’t get). For many of these kids, feeling down and dejected is not a momentary lapse of reason but it is the only way they know how to feel if they do badly in the academic field. Of course, not all children with this psyche are brilliant so some of them continue to do badly and sadly, they will forever feel inferior and less worthy than those who consistently produce A grade (literally) report cards. It doesn’t have to be this way but unfortunately that’s how the world is.

I am not discounting the importance of education and academic excellence… but we need to achieve some sort of balance. It is important to teach kids the importance of doing well in school BUT it is also important to help them understand that they are not failures if they don’t do well. It’s a tough lesson to impart but it’s not impossible. I just wish a person’s self worth and self esteem wouldn’t be tied to their ability (or lack thereof) to do well in school because from the way I look at it, for some people… it’s a lifetime in chains they never quite break free of.

Run Forrest Run!

I went for a run yesterday.
Ouch.
It was painfully obvious to me how unfit I am.

I’ve been going to the gym on and off for some time now but I don’t really take it as seriously as I should. More than losing weight, I decided to go to the gym to stop being so sedentary and get a little fit. But I fell in love with weights…and started doing lesser cardio. Stupid. Totally defeats the purpose. I look toned but don’t feel that fit at all.

Anyway, so a friend of mine wanted to rollerblade at this new park near my place and I thought I’d give her company. Since I don’t own rollerblades, I figured I’d try running. Needless to say, I was out of breath soon enough and didn’t really run for too long.

But, I actually loved it. Running near the water was really nice and it’s way less boring than a treadmill. I’m in pain today but I want to keep doing it so I get better at it. My sister has been telling me how addictive it is and after just one day of running, I can see what she meant. I loved the fresh air.

When I first started going to the gym, I was very conscious about myself and my body even though I’m not really fat. My gym has a ladies only area and I refused to work out anywhere but there. But after a few months, I became less conscious and would work out in the common area to gain some more confidence. Yes, its weird and I know I’m not that important but I honestly did feel like everyone was looking at me (like they don’t have better things to do). Plus, my gym is in the same building as work so everyone from work goes there and I felt like they would see how unfit I am and laugh at me. In fact, the reason I didn’t go to a gym for a long time is because I was so conscious.

Anyway, I am much better now and therefore more confident about running and not worrying about other runners laughing at me. It’s a big thing for me to have gotten past that. I will stop a million times to catch my breath. I will huff and puff. But at least I’ll be running and not sitting at home making false promises to myself. :)

Going running today after work. Alone this time, with no rollerblader in tow. Looking forward to it.

Reviewing ‘Unaccustomed Earth’

Note: No spoilers. I have tried to review this book without giving away any story lines or plots so even if you haven’t read the book, don’t worry I won’t spoil it for you.

It’s been a while since I read a book I found hard to put down. I mean, I read a lot… I’m always reading more than one book at a time. Some books I keep reading because I simply want to know what happens next but there is no real urgency; some I keep reading because I like the book but it’s not hard to put down or anything; some I keep reading only because I started it and can’t bear an unfinished story and then there are those I keep reading because I can’t bear to put it down and as much as I want to know what happens at the end, I keep wishing the book doesn’t finish because it’s so good. Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘Unaccustomed Earth’ fell into the last of these “keep reading” categories… so not surprisingly, I finished the book in 2 days.

I have neither loved nor hated Jhumpa Lahiri before this. I honestly can’t remember much of ‘The Interpreter of Maladies’ so I’ll leave it out of this discussion. I read ‘The Namesake’ long after it came out and had heard rave reviews from friends and family. Despite these or maybe because of these reviews, 'The Namesake' failed to live up to my high expectations. Coming from a Bengali Indian background like the characters in the book, I think most of my family and friends liked it because the book was about Bengali characters more than anything else. I liked it but I didn’t think it was all that fantastic. In fact, I liked the movie more… may be because the actors did such a great job.

‘Unaccustomed Earth’ however has been a different experience. It is a collection of short stories about the Bengali immigrant’s life in USA. I love the name – in two simple words, Lahiri explains her book – a book about living and growing up in a culture that you adopt, but somehow doesn’t become your own. The book is depressing, no doubt but it is very real too. I love how the author concentrates on various human characteristics and traits in each of her short stories. Some of them are very typically Bengali, some characteristic of most Indians while some others more universally human.

My immigrant experience has been very different from the characters described in the book… for many reasons, some of them being:

a) I am a first generation immigrant of the 21st century… the characters are a generation or two ahead of me. Many of them suffer the identity crisis second generation immigrants do.
b) I don’t live in the USA… Bengalis haven’t adopted Australia (yet) the way they have USA & UK.
c) I don’t limit my social interaction to a Bengali/ Indian crowd only.
d) My upbringing hasn’t been as traditional and orthodox as of the characters.

Yet despite these differences, I can relate to these characters, not just because they are Bengali, but also because they are immigrants.  I miss India but I don’t think I could go back to living there. I love being in Australia but there IS a reason I call myself a Legal Alien ;-). Therefore on some level, I can identify with the characters a little.

I love it when authors paint a vivid picture… but I love it more when they create strongly etched characters. I think what I liked most about this book is that in each of the short stories, Lahiri not only creates a beautiful picture of the surroundings, the culture and the general atmosphere the characters inhabit but also creates strong, real characters and situations that one can identify with. Usha, Hema, Kaushik, Sang, Rahul and all the rest are not just destined to live within the pages of the book – to be forgotten once the book is closed but come to life and tend to stay with you. 

When Lahiri describes the close-minded & judgmental Bengali, the loveless but respectful marriages, the haunting sense of “duty” that plagues parents and children, the head-in-the-sand approach to family problems… etc… I did find myself thinking of my own family (immediate and extended) and friends and that is what made me realise that Jhumpa Lahiri has done an amazing job of creating fictional stories to portray cultural issues that are very real and very much the norm. Through her stories, she courageously talks about various cultural issues that Bengalis (and Indians in general) prefer to brush under the carpet.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and true to form, find myself wishing there were more stories in the collection. Stories of immigration and the identity crisis that follows… what’s new you may ask? I agree it does get old if you don’t create a new twist; if you don’t tell the story from a new angle. But if you open a new window for the readers to look through, it doesn’t matter how many such stories have been told, yours still stands out from the rest. I believe the short stories in 'Unaccustomed Earth' have managed to do just that.